Referee's to strike on........

[Hocker]

Following a meeteng held tonight between all of the referees it has been decided that the strike will continue for at least another weekend.... Good old faithful county board find themselves in another dilly of a pickle!

[Archangel]

Hooray!!!

No, seriously! I am with the referees on this one, but we had a match scheduled for Sat evening and I had other plans that I now can do. Works out fine for me.

[Lone Shark]

Honest question - am I the only one who thinks that this is the kind of thing which could be still with us in two months?

Unless the referees back down or the culprit steps forward, neither of which looks likely, I can't see this being fixed. I hate to say it but the only way it could be resolved would be for the refs to agree to take charge of all games other than those involving Shinrone/Ballyskenach/St. Marys, which would then force the club to take action.

If not we could be looking at a real crisis here.

[Archangel]

Honest question - am I the only one who thinks that this is the kind of thing which could be still with us in two months?

Unless the referees back down or the culprit steps forward, neither of which looks likely, I can't see this being fixed. I hate to say it but the only way it could be resolved would be for the refs to agree to take charge of all games other than those involving Shinrone/Ballyskenach/St. Marys, which would then force the club to take action.

If not we could be looking at a real crisis here.

That's kinda what I said in the other thread, it's action being forced on someone rather than general concensus. While it would be the most satisfactory immediate solution, the knock-on effect will include other clubs. People will get pissed off at these clubs if this effects their season. No matter how localised the issue, it ultimately effects every GAA person in the county.

[ballymanabroad]

Looks like its going to run and run. Lots of challenge games to look forward to. Or not to look forward to........???

After what happened to Cathal Daly in Tullamore last weekend should challenge games be played without a GAA sanctioned referee? What if Cathal wasn't a member of the Guards and had no health insurance? As I understand it, the GAA has no obligation to pay out insurance to players injured if a GAA referee is not officiating the game. Is this correct?

[crossbar]

Hi there lads.

I've been viewing this site as a guest for a good while now and I must compliment the users as the level of debate on the major Offaly gaa issues is excellent as compared to Hogansh**e.com!! Anyway just felt the urge to throw my two cents in.

I have to totally agree with ls on that we could be looking at a long layoff here as we are no nearer a resolution than the day the incident happened. I fully back the referees on their action but I think if it was confined to the club(s) in question as ls suggests, this may force some reaction from them or the individual because at the moment every other club in the county is in the same boat and until the strike is isolated to the offending club they will just be happy to sit tight as they are not losing ground on anybody else in terms of playing competitive games.

I also think it's appaling that there has been no level of national interest on the issue because we are not a dublin, cork, kerry etc.

[GOOFY]

Thanks be ta jasus, im finally on, again long term observer,great site lads, anyway, what a mess we find ourselves,I agree the referees should boycott the Shinrine club, let everyoneelse get on with the leagues and Shinrone should forfeit any league points that they were due to play for.
Might sound harsh but a stand has to be made and quickly.

[Lone Shark]

Thanks be ta jasus, im finally on, again long term observer,great site lads, anyway, what a mess we find ourselves,I agree the referees should boycott the Shinrine club, let everyoneelse get on with the leagues and Shinrone should forfeit any league points that they were due to play for.
Might sound harsh but a stand has to be made and quickly.

It might be tricky to make Shinrone forfeit the points within the rules as things stand. Seeing as officially it's both Shinrone and Ballyskenach, any punishment would have to apply equally to both clubs for a start. Second of all, if Shinrone/Ballyskenach are willing to fulfil a fixture but the referee isn't available, how do you sanction one club and not the other?

Having said that, I'd say not being able to get games would be punishment enough. If the first round of the championship is looming within a few weeks and Shinrone or Ballyskenach haven't played a game yet while all the other clubs have four or five league games under their belts it would fairly concentrate the minds I would imagine.

[GOOFY]

Good point ls, actually thought of that after i posted it (about Ballyskenagh ) but i think the general consensus would be to a specific punishment or boycott to the clubs involved rather than the blanket withdrawal of referees as we have at the moment, because it gives the perpetrators a nice little cover screen and punishes clubs with nothing to do with it whatsoever.
This could potentially be a big can of worms on the horizon if its not dealt with shortly.
Maybe we could send Mick Mahon (under cover with help from the boys on anonymous) up to the pub in Shinrone and try to weasel out the guilty party while having a bit of banter.It could work, honestly

[Lone Shark]

Not sure about your second solution (Mick Mahon enters a pub with a gang of heavies - nothing remotely odd about that!! ) but I'd say the former where the refs ban is specific to the two clubs is the only way out of this.

[GOOFY]

Yeah, might be a bit dramatic alright , thik my idea is still a work in progress i suppose.

[Archangel]

Yeah, might be a bit dramatic alright , thik my idea is still a work in progress i suppose.

Jaysus, he's only here a wet day and causing ructions. Keep 'em coming.

[Muck Savage]

Lets look at this for what it is, the County board are just as much as fault as the two clubs involved. By the county board lifting the ban on the St. Marys club they have sent out a message that this is OK. Right, the culpret in this case was from Shinrone/Ballyskenagh, but for a Ref the county board are offering no protection. So why would the only refuse to Ref a game involving both these clubs, knowing that the same thing could happen in a football game the other end of the county with the same response from the county board?
In my mind it's not about the two clubs here its about the County board and their lack of support for the ref's who are amatures the same as the players and human the same as the rest of us. The GAA are woried about Soccer and Rubgy, well lak of Ref's will kill the game quicker.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I think to be fair the county board looked at from the point of view that it was unfair to rob U21 players their chance of playing U21 hurling when it was a luntic idiotic supporter that did the deed.

[the weasel]

i dont agree that the refs should just boycott the shinrone/ballyskenach matchs. i think the refs are on strike not with the 2 clubs but more the county board. remember that the refs didnt go on strike after the incident but after the county board lifted the 2 year ban.

Having said that, I'd say not being able to get games would be punishment enough. If the first round of the championship is looming within a few weeks and Shinrone or Ballyskenach haven't played a game yet while all the other clubs have four or five league games under their belts it would fairly concentrate the minds I would imagine.

i wouldnt see this as much of a punishment as id say both clubs could get alot of challenge matches just over the border in tipp easily enough.

P.S. i agree with the refs stance and i think they should keep the strike going until the 2 clubs or county board reacts.